Okie dokie, here it is!!! Mason was due Friday, May 16th, but I had a strong feeling for about the last month of my pregnancy that he would be born the weekend before that. Jody's wedding was May 17th and I just a feeling that Mason would come early and we would be able to be at the wedding and that I could still be in it. I knew God would work everything out for us. Why in the world would He want my family under that much stress and anxiety in one weekend over all these life-changing events? Thankfully, my instinct was right!! I did some major nesting the entire week before Mason arrived on Sunday, May 11th. These events included, Tuesday: cleaning out the guest bedroom closet which had turned into Mason's nursery (a BIG job that took the help of my parents and cousin, Ginger!), Wednesday: cleaning out my office at Lipscomb (another huge job that required my dad's help and a dolley to load all the heavy boxes down to the car... that itself is probably what put me into labor!), Friday: our belly photoshoot, done by my mom at Ellington Agricultural Center, Saturday: my birthday!! Marc and I just hung out the entire day, went to California Pizza Kitchen, and rented the movie, "Juno." I ordered the spiciest pizza CPK has; Jamaican Jerk Chicken. We were trying all we could to make me go into labor!! I also packed a few final items into our hospital bags and organized Mason's nursery. Anyway, it was the nicest, most relaxing birthday ever, and I also had a feeling it was the last day Marc and I would be just that; Marc and April. We did have all these big plans for the next day since it was Mother's Day; to go to our church then to my parents' church then to a Myers family cookout. I had also tried on every dress in my closet to find one that I could still squeeze myself into without looking like a hippopotamous. I had even ironed it! It was hanging up all ready to go! Well, did any of that even end up happening? Thank you. Mason Thomas woke me up at 5 am on Mother's Day ready to make his entrance into this world! Well, he actually didn't get here 'til about 13 hours and 23 minutes later...
I woke up at 5 am with my water breaking. I jumped straight up out of bed and knew exactly what was happening. I woke Marc up and he jumped up as well. I immediately took a shower and Marc immediately grabbed the sheets off the bed and started scrubbing the mattress. :) I know, a loyal and faithful husband for ya! And of course we would be thinking about the mattresses being stained during all this! I had all this energy out of nowhere and was not in the least tired; I just wanted to have me some baby! I just went on with my normal activities; I fixed my hair, put on make-up and put on my "Baby Bump" tank top. I wanted to get a few more hours of use out of it! :) As I was getting ready, I told Marc to go back to bed cuz it would probably be a while. We heard in our Lamaze class about how a woman usually labors at home for several hours and we learned all these different things we could do during that process; watch movies, invite friends over to play Badgammon (I know, random), eat jello, take a walk, sleep, etc. He couldn't go back to sleep, though. He took a shower as well and packed his bag. I finalized my bags, and then do what all women do the day they give birth; laundry! Yup, I did laundry, folded it, and even put it away! As I was sitting on the floor in front of the floor length mirror in our room straightening my hair, I felt the first contraction. It was a slight cramp so I didn't really think anything of of it, then Marc began timing them and we noticed a pattern of about 15 minutes apart and stronger. All of our Lamaze knowledge was coming into use! I moved myself downstairs where I was going to sit on the couch and review the notebook of our Lamaze breathing techniques. Well, my water decided to break again. Thank you. I didn't even think that could happen! I mean, a HUGE gush of fluid pouring out all over me! Talk about a strange sensation! It broke all over my jeans, couch, and fake hardwood floors. Marc grabbed the most towels to clean it up. We figured that was our cue to go to the hospital. It was around 7:15 am by that time and Marc had already paged the doctor on call. It was Dr. Beyer, not my main doctor but one that I liked as well. He said to definitely go on to the hospital and that he would meet us. We hadn't called any of our family yet at that point, but as we were leaving Marc called my mom and said, "Ready to do this???" She was the most confused and had no idea what he was talking about!! He also called his momma and told them to get ready and start heading down here from Kentucky. So, by about 2 1/2 hours after my water breaking, we took off to the hospital, but then of course we did something else that all pregnant women do... returned a movie!! We had rented "Juno" from the dollar Red Box at the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and didn't wanna be charged late fees! Thank you. It was my idea actually to do this. So, we returned it and as Marc went over the speed bump my contractions started getting worse. By this point they were about 5 minutes part and pretty excruciating. I was curled up in a ball in the front seat. This was when we started calling more people. I called Andrea, but a contraction came after I got 2 words out of my mouth, so I had to throw the phone to Marc and he had to tell her what was going on. I had managed to tell her that it was "time" and she was in the most shock. It's funny, cuz just the day before she had told me that they were going to her grandparents' in Red Boiling Springs for Mother's Day, but to call her if anything happened and they would be with us at the hospital instead. And with all my other psychic feelings, I just knew that she would end up NOT being able to go to Red Boiling Springs that day! Anyway, of course, by the time I called Andrea she had already known! My mom had called her the minute she got off the phone with Marc. So, Andrea said she and Cory would be on the way to the hospital soon. Then I called my brother. Well, I started balling my eyes out with emotion and couldn't really talk to him either, so I had to give the phone to Marc on that one, too. Jody just kept saying, "You're having a baby!" and I heard Christy in the background screaming. :) There were soooo many other people I wanted to call, but I was in so much pain and was so emotional, so no more calls were made on the way to the hospital. We got there and pulled up to the ER area where a nurse came out to get me with a wheelchair. She kept asking all these questions but I could not even answer her through the contractions. She wheeled me in for us to register or sign in or whatever we had to do at some desk thang and everyone who saw me kept saying, "Happy Mother's Day!" and how much they liked my shirt. Thank you. I had forgotten about what I even had on my body! It was so overwhelming and so surreal. Who would have ever thought that I would spend Mother's Day morning being wheeled through Vanderbilt Medical Center having contractions and wearing a Baby Bump shirt? Thank you. When they took me to my Labor & Delivery Room, nurses immediately came in and told me to change into a gown. After that, everything started happening so quickly...
To be continued!! :)
The bags all packed and pilfered through for the thousandth time ready to be loaded up in the Toyota!! Check out the robe hanging on the bassinet. Jody's wife, Christy, gave those to her b-maids as a gift and they were all mongrammed in pink letters except for mine. Mine was monogrammed in blue; a special gift to take to the hospital for a momma having a baby boy!!
The nursery all ready to go except for one little thing... Mason Thomas!!
Attempting to study my Lamaze book after my water broke the 2nd time... Wait, you can even see my amniotic fluid-stained jeans next to me! Thank you.
The final 2 belly shots!! You can maybe tell that I was NOT feeling good at all by this point! You can even tell how nervous and shaky Marc was cuz of how blurry the pictures are!
